This book is neither fish nor fowl! The stories are all short, predominantly silly & far from suspenseful. As far as writing whodunnits is concerned, Agatha Christie has nothing to worry about. History, it definitely is not! Whilst the authors do try to draw circumstances from true history, the links & threads in these stories are pathetically fanciful, bordering on the preposterous. There isn't a single story that gripped me or, in writing this review, is worthy of a positive mention. This book is neither history nor mystery. If you want either, or both, you can certainly do better than this.

This set of royalty-based mysteries also include a bit of alternate reality, notably in the deaths of the Princes in the Tower (Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York) and the Grand Duchess Anastasia. I found the stories that were based on earlier royalty (such as Macbeth and his wife Gruoch, a descendant of the older dynasty) rather more interesting. By comparison, the alternate-reality sketches of some famous royal crimes seemed rather iffy. I don't read historical mysteries to get "what-if" scenarios, but rather to get valid and soundly constructed mysteries. [I am rather interested in medieval royalty. Add to that the fact, that I don't like Edward IV nor Henry VII nor Henry VIII!]. I hoped that the less-known mysteries in the lives of some major and minor royal personages would have been discussed, such as "Did Anne of Austria really fall for Buckingham? And what exactly was her relationship with Richelieu?" or "Why did Mary Queen of Scots behave as she did at critical points in her life?" And so forth. Of course, stories using these as plots should also be based on solid historical evidence. That is what makes them historical, not alternate reality.

While there were several stories, some better than others, this anthology therefore failed to satisfy me on several levels. For one, some of the stories simply were not very interesting. Others offended my sense of history (as well as my sense of logic, whatever I posses). Still others struck me as rather unrealistic solutions. On the whole, I cannot recommend this collection; it was not a waste of my time, but I had expected a rather different style.

In his introduction to this collection, Paul Doherty writes that " a number of (the British) monarchs have met highly suspicious deaths, or disappeared under mysterious circumstances" and then proceeds to give some delectable morsels of royal intrigue, mayhem, and murder. In "Royal Whodunnits" Ashley has brought together 25 "tales" of this nature in an intriguing compendium, to say the least. Popular--and good--writers contribute, from Edward Marston to Peter Tremayne to Susanna Gregory to Margaret Frazer, to name but four. Of course, the collection is fiction--and should be read as so--but intriguing, exciting, and suspenseful nevertheless. The subjects range from Richard II, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, the Princes in the Tower, Edward II, and Henry VIII, again to name a few. Anglophiles--and even others, if there are any!--will find this a good read! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)